A message from the Chaplain
I’m writing this in October half-term at the end of the county-wide lockdown in Conwy. For two weeks we were not permitted to go outside the county boundaries and, whilst periods of enforced restrictions such as this can be very taxing, I try to implement one of the key principles of wellbeing: there is no point in getting annoyed at things beyond your control. So I decided to explore areas of the County Borough of Conwy that I had never visited.
This was also to test out another principle that I believe in: there is always so much more right on your doorstep than you ever imagined.
Here’s what I discovered.
I live on the school site and to begin with my wife and I visited a few places very close to home, such as the beautiful ancient woodland of Parc Mawr at Henryd, just south of Conwy, with its colony of lesser horseshoe bats and glorious views over the river valley to Bodnant Gardens.
The woodland is crossed by a new long-distance path called the North Wales Pilgrims’ Way, which runs for 135 miles from Basingwerk to Bardsey and links various historic sites of religious importance such as the small chapel of Llangelynnin on the hill just above Henryd, which is always a delight to visit.
After these closer trips we then travelled to the edges of the county, performing something like a beating of the bounds, that ancient ritual whereby people would go to the edges of their parish to re-establish their territory and to ask God’s blessing upon their land.
So we went to the far south-west and walked the Lledr river beside the village of Dolwyddelan with its hidden gorge, where fishermen and climbers still tiptoe along girders nailed precariously above the waters.
We travelled to the east to Llannefydd, a few miles from Denbigh, where the oldest human remains discovered in Wales were unearthed in a nearby cave: the teeth and jawbone of an 11-year-old Neanderthal boy dating from 230,000 years ago.
Much more recently this was the birthplace of the 18th-century poet Twm o’r Nant, who wrote satirical sketches attacking the social evils of his day such as greedy landowners, swindling lawyers and immoral clergymen (I’d say some things never change but that might appear to be somewhat undermining of my own profession! – however, Twm o’r Nant was a supporter of the early Methodists in Wales and mainly directed his religious attacks upon local Anglican vicars).
At Llannefydd we climbed up to the pre-historic hill fort of Mynydd-y-gaer to view the coastline from Llandudno to Prestatyn. Finally, on the last day of the lockdown (before the national lockdown began!) we drove as far as one can within Conwy to the small settlement of Llangwm, close to Bala, and climbed the hill that separates one from the other: Foel Goch.
Although only 600m high this hill has the most spectacular 360-degree views of all the great North Walian mountain ranges: the Clwydian hills to the north-east; the Berwyns to the south-east; the Arans due south, the Arenigs due west, and the Rhinogs south-west with the Cadair Idris range further south still, and of course the Moelwyns, Carneddau, Glyders and the Snowdon massif to the north-west. Standing on top of Foel Goch taking in the view one could not have felt less under lockdown.
So here’s my point: to some extent, we are only as locked-down as we feel. I firmly believe that around us as well as within us there are illimitable resources to help us not just cope with the restrictions imposed upon us but emerge stronger from them.
Rev'd Sissons
